BLOODSHED

08.25.12

Assad’s Forces Accused of Massacre

Aris Messinis, AFP / GettyImages

More than 200 bodies were found in houses near Damascus after what activists are calling an “execution-style” door-to-door raid by government troops. Assad’s troops had just taken the working-class town of Daraya back from rebel forces when opposition leaders claim they proceeded to execute civilians using close-range shots and sniper fire. A local activist told Reuters he witnessed an 8-year-old girl shot three times as she was fleeing the war zone with her parents. An estimated 440 people were killed by the government troops Saturday, according to a local Syrian organization that monitors casualties.